Kaspersky’s Survey Reveals that Nigeria is Riddled with Digital Payment Attacks

According to the Kaspersky Digital Payment survey, 37% of respondents from Nigeria experienced financial losses associated with threats when using online banking and mobile wallet services. The majority of users (97%) lost up to USD $1,000 equivalent as a result of these incidents, while 3% of the respondents reported a loss of more than USD $1,000 equivalent.

According to the Kaspersky Security Network, 161,272 financial threats were blocked in Nigeria by Kaspersky in 2022. These attacks were aimed at stealing financial information such as credit card numbers and login credentials and usually rely on social engineering tactics to lure victims.

However, the impact of a cyber threat targeting digital payments does not just impose a financial burden on consumers, but also affects them psychologically. For example, 60% of respondents from Nigeria said that they were very anxious about getting their money back. 43% of users reported that they have less trust in digital payment providers. 80% also stated that they became more vigilant after experiencing a cyber incident, and 65% installed security solutions like an antivirus on their infected devices.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 64% of users in Nigeria faced at least one incident when using digital payments. That’s why it’s increasingly important to know how to interact securely with any emerging technologies, including online banking and mobile wallet services. And all stakeholders, like government, digital payment providers, users and even cybersecurity companies need to come together to create a sustainable and secure payment ecosystem.

Emad Haffar, Head of Technical Experts, Kaspersky